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Police officer’s day in court is delayed

By JAMES A. KIMBLEUnion Leader Correspondent

BRENTWOOD — A Plaistow police detective was allowed to put off his arraignment while his lawyer works out an agreement on bail conditions.

George Wickson, 40, was expected to appear in Rockingham County Superior Court on Thursday to enter a plea on charges that he held a knife to the neck of a 22-year-old man and assaulted two other women during an off-duty incident on May 25.

A judge approved a request by Wickson’s lawyer, Brian Lavallee, to work out an agreement with prosecutors on Wickson’s bail conditions, and waive the arraignment at a later date.

Lavallee is expected to enter a not-guilty plea on Wickson’s behalf.

A grand jury indicted Wickson earlier this month on a felony count of criminal threatening and four misdemeanor charges.

Those charges include two counts of simple assault, and single counts of criminal threatening and attempted simple assault for his alleged interactions with the two women.

The incident happened at an undisclosed location in Newton on May 25, according to indictments.

Wickson has been suspended without pay from his job pending an internal investigation.

Court documents say Wickson grabbed the neck of a 22-year-old man in Newton, and said, “words to the effect of ‘shut up or I’ll slice you.’”

Wickson allegedly grabbed a 21-year-old woman by the hair at one point, “attempted to kiss her” and grabbed her buttocks. Wickson threw the beer at a 30-year-old woman and “then lunged towards (her) as if to hit her,” according to court records.

No other details in the case have been made public and Hillsborough County prosecutors who have been called in to handle the case say they cannot comment on the details surrounding the alleged incident.

The case was investigated by state police.

Lavallee said in a previous interview that the indictments do not paint an accurate picture of what went on.

“I’m not going to be able to make any particular comments on the allegations,” Lavallee said. “My client adamantly denies the charges. The grand jury is a secret, one-sided process, and I look forward to getting into court and beginning his defense in earnest.”

Wickson was also suspended from duty as a member of the sheriff department’s Drug Task Force.

The criminal threatening charge is a class B felony punishable by up to 3½ to 7 years in prison and a $4,000 fine. The misdemeanor charges are each punishable by up to a year in county jail and a $2,000 fine.